


Shock

by Ice_the_Irken



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Betrayal, Gen, Mental Breakdown, Overwhelmed, Takes place right after s03e07 Common Ground, Todd has Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29665437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ice_the_Irken/pseuds/Ice_the_Irken
Summary: After being suddenly thrown from a Genii torture-prison to back in his own society torn by a vicious inter-stellar civil war he had no previous knowledge of with little time to adjust, Todd is feeling quite overwhelmed by the sudden harsh change.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Shock

He couldn't believe it; he couldn't believe he was finally free.

Walking almost lifelessly down the hall, he could feel the stares of disbelief focused on him. They had all known by now; news spreads fast in telepathic communities, especially news like this. Their commander, who had been gone for so long and was presumed dead, had suddenly reappeared. He couldn’t blame his brothers for being surprised to see him.

Things fell into place relatively quickly. During the discussion that occurred immediately upon his arrival, which consisted of questions about where he had been and other related topics, they had told him about the fact that many of his subordinates had betrayed him and convinced the others that he was dead. They had told him about a lot of things that had happened while he was gone actually: humans returning to a city of the Ancients; how those humans had woken up the Wraith from hibernation early and how it caused the Wraith to go into an interstellar civil war over feeding grounds. He was essentially dropped straight from a torture-prison to the middle of a civil war he had just learned about.

He remembered what they had told him, but it had yet to sink in.

The few that were still loyal to him had, more or less, handed over his position back to him immediately, a process that should have been a long ordeal, a process that shouldn't have been so easy. He guessed he was happy that it did, but it still felt so strange. Even given the long lifespan of a Wraith, he was gone for a considerable length of time, yet he just went back to commanding, like nothing had happened. Not over nearly as big of a fleet though; many had left and were unwilling to come back. He wasn’t going to do much about that for now; he had too many other things clogging up his mind.

So many thoughts and feelings, shock, anxiety, overwhelmed his mind until it forcibly suppressed all thought. His mind was blank and full at the same time, the swirling vortex of emotions and thoughts blanketed by a thick fog of shock. He was overwhelmed.

His movements were lifeless, unaware, as he essentially stumbled down the hallway. His body walked itself towards the commander’s quarters, still being able to auto-pilot himself there, despite being gone for so long.

Stopping in front of the door of the commander's quarters, he stared at it blankly. He looked for a lock for a moment before suddenly remembering what he needed to do. Hesitantly, he sent a mental command for the door to open, almost like he didn’t believe it would work, but it did; the door opened immediately for him.

He never thought he would forget how to open a door.

He walked in slowly, turning his head back out of paranoia and habit to watch for anyone who might be watching or following behind, somewhat uncomfortable to walk into an enclosed space. He stared at the door for a moment as it closed, waiting a few seconds as if to make absolutely sure the coast was clear before suddenly slumping back against the wall and letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, using the wall as a support as he felt himself slide down a little against it.

He found himself just… staring at the wall, in shock.

He wasn't worried he would do something wrong. He wasn't worried about how he was going to do this, or if he still could.

Hours from now he would be. Hours from now he would be hyperventilating on the floor about whether he could still lead, having been out of the practice for so long, been gone for so long that there were so many new things had happened. It was almost like he had awakened from hibernation to a new world, except that it was just him; he wasn't learning what happened while he had been out of commission with many other Wraith; he was learning all these things alone. He couldn't help but feel like an idiot.

He wasn’t angry about what had happened.

Hours from now he would be. Hours from now he would be throwing things against the wall out of outrage at what his former 'brothers' had done to him. Some of his brothers _had_ wanted to come and rescue him from that _torture-chamber_ , but others were _so_ selfish and wanted to rule themselves _so_ horribly that they convinced those that were loyal to him that he was dead and left him to _rot_ in there! He couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

Hours from now he would be, but right now he was just in shock.

He had been gone so long, he still didn't know how long, he would figure that out later, but for now he just focused on the fact that he finally wasn't gone anymore; he was home.

He had to ground himself.

He studied the room, taking note of every part, whether it be out of the instinct to survey his surroundings or simply studying the room and adjusting to it. He stood up slowly, bracing his hands against the wall behind him. He ran his hands along the wall as he slowly started to walk the room. For the next few minutes, he walked every inch of that room over and over, but this time he didn't feel trapped.

It wasn't his Hive, his main Hive had been destroyed long ago, while he was locked away in the Genii prison, but he was so overjoyed to be in this one, in any one, in or at any place but in that prison.

He was finally free. He was back amidst his brethren.

It all became too much too fast, too many emotions finally broke through, and he broke down. Sliding down another wall, he covered his face with his hands and let everything out.

For the first time in so long his tears were from joy.

Joy, shock, and relief.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, that's the end! Thank you all for reading! Comments give me life and encourage me to write more, so if you enjoyed please tell me so! With that being said, I hope you all have a wonderful day/night!


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